The Lost City of Dinosaurs
by Grantourer
Summary: (Takes place between ANM 3 and 4) While out having a friendly duel, Buck and William discover a hidden city populated by highly intelligent troodons and decide to sneak in and check it out. Will they be discovered and eaten, or might this civilization be a bit more advanced and welcome them, or will they be seen as a source of labor and entertainment, and what might they discover?
1. Chapter 1

It was another beautiful day in the dinosaur world and Buck and William were having a little duel by the river, so far they were equally matched. "You know, I might actually get you this time." William teased as his knife clashed with Bucks.

"And wot makes ya think tha?" Buck asked as he continued to block Williams attacks.

"Well this is the longest I've lasted against you and I'm pretty sure I know all your tricks." William answered as he suddenly ducked and rolled behind Buck, catching him by surprise but still managing to block Williams attack.

"Oh really?" Buck then leapt right over William and landed right behind him and delivered a blow that William wasn't able to properly block and was knocked back a little and Buck continued to deliver blow after blow, not giving William anytime to recover and soon knocked him to the ground and had him pined up against a tree. "It appears I won… again." Buck said as he gave his crooked, cocky grin.

"I'll get you one day Buck, just you wait." William replied playfully.

"I will admit though, you are a worthy opponent." Buck then extended his paw which William took and helped him up.

"Thank you, so, what do you…." Something then caught Williams attention, a troodon came out from behind the waterfall that fed into the river and upon seeing them went back in, normally he'd think nothing of this but he swore that troodon was carrying a spear and was wearing some sort of clothing.

"William, is somethin wrong?"

"I'd like to investigate that waterfall, I saw something strange come from it."

"Wot was it."

"It appeared to be a troodon, but it was clothed and carrying a spear."

"Ya sure ya weren't jus seein things?"

"I don't think so, come on, lets check it out." Buck followed William over to the waterfall and found that there was a massive indention in the cliff that allowed passage behind the waterfall without getting wet. There was a path that started there that lead to a relatively large opening in the cliff and what they saw was astounding. "Oh my god, is this real, am I really seeing this?"

"'ow is this possible?"

"That…. That's a city…. a Roman city…. but how?"

The city was massive with tons of building of various sizes, the most prominent one being the giant one that was farthest away, it appeared to be a palace. Since no sunlight reached the underground city it was lit by tons of torches which did give the city a relatively eerie look.

"This is historical gold right here, I can't wait to explore it!" Suddenly they could hear the sound of someone approaching.

"Someones comin, 'ide!" The two weasel dove into a large bush and watched as three troodons approached and they were shocked when they heard them speak.

"I swear I saw them, I was right here at the entrance when I saw the dino slayers, they were dueling and I think one of them saw me!"

"Yeah well they're no longer there, and if they had followed you in then we'd probably have been attacked by now, those dino slayer rumors are probably getting to your head, you should probably go get some rest, hopefully that will clear your mind of all this dino slayer nonsense." The trio of dinosaurs then turned around and went back towards the city. Buck and William who watched the whole thing from within the bush were stunned.

"Did they really just talk?"

"I've never seen any talkin dinos before."

"And do you think they built this city?"

"I don't know, with the exception of the raptors and Rudy I've never known any of these over grown lizards to be smart, and I don't think even the smart ones are smart enough to build a city, but wot I wanna know is who this dino slayer is, ya don't think its us do ya?"

"Wouldn't surprise me, I mean, we were just dueling out there and I'm pretty sure that was the dino that I saw, lets go check this place out, but we must stay hidden."

"Agreed, I'll be right behind ya." Going from bush to bush, the weasel duo followed the path down to the city and were again shocked to find that the citys population so far appeared to be made up entirely of troodons and William noted just how similar everything was to ancient Rome. Judging by all the stands with various items that the citys residents appeared to be purchasing, he concluded that they must be in the citys marketplace and was surprised to see that food wasn't the only thing being sold: clothing, pottery, baskets, furniture, tools, and many other items were available. Buck meanwhile had all his attention diverted on the food. "Somethin smells nice." William could then smell something to.

"Is that stake I smell?"

"I 'ope so, cause I want some." Buck was about to get up and leave the cover of the bushes but William stopped him just in time.

"Buck, be careful, theres dinosaur everywhere and who knows what they might do to us!" However William didn't realize how loud he'd just been until too late as they could see a few dinosaurs looking their way. "I said that a little too loud didn't I?"

"Yeah, ya did, lets jus be quiet and lie low and perhaps they won't find us."

"Did that bush just talk?" One of the dinosaurs asked another.

"I think I did indeed hear a voice come from it." They both began to investigate, sniffing, and looking very closely at the bush. "I do smell something, but I don't know what it is." It then stuck its head into the bush, startling the two weasels as the three stared at each other stunned.

"Uh, hi." William greeted nervously.

"DINO SLAYERS!" The troodon panicked as it stumbled back and fell down and everyone in the marketplace drew their attention on him. "THE DINO SLAYERS ARE IN THE BUSH, GET THE ARMY!"

"Time to go." Buck hurriedly announced as the duo fled but found the entrance/exit to be guarded by three guards who thankfully hadn't received the news yet but they were still a threat, being well armed and wearing armor, so they turned around and hid in a nearby tree. "So, wot do ya think we should do, I favor sticking together and either tryin to fight our way out or 'ide until they give up."

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea, I think its best to play it safe and avoid engaging them unless necessary and we should probably split up, they'll be searching everywhere for us and those troodons have better smell, eyesight, and hearing than we do and will find us eventually if we stick together, if we split up then we'll be harder to find and if we're caught they won't have both of us which means one of us could still escape and come back with my army."

"Wait, 'ow could I get your army?"

"I've given you authorization to the research facility and the army, though still only a small portion, like a few hundred men plus equipment, but they could still easily deal with whatever this dinosaur army has."

"Ok, well, good luck to ya and I 'ope to see ya on the other side of the falls."

"Good luck to you too." The two weasels then split up to find their own hiding place.


	2. Chapter 2

Ice Age and its characters are property of Blue Sky Studios

* * *

William decided to check the opposite cliff side for possible places to hide while Buck hid in a small hole he found under the tree they were just in. William ran across the fields on all fours so he'd be harder to spot, though it did feel very weird running like this. He soon made it to the opposite cliff face and tried to find some small hole or tiny cave to crawl into, but he couldn't find any. He could now hear approaching footsteps. "Come on come on." He frantically muttered to himself as he searched every inch for a possible hiding place, then he tried to dig and to his surprise the dirt crumbled, so he continued to dig and started to make some progress until he heard someone.

"Theres one of them, get him, but don't kill him!" William heard a voice bellow behind him, and when he turned around he saw a squad of eight troodons, each with metal swords charging at him. He was now forced to do precisely what he wanted to avoid, but there was no way he was going down without a fight, so he drew his knife and got in a fighting stance.

"COME GET ME!" When the first one got to him he dove forward and slashed at its foot and instantly discovered that this would be a far different fight, instead of the usual screech or roar he heard a scream and cries of pain, and since he doubted they were some evil force and instead just soldiers following orders he quickly began to feel rather uncomfortable with this, and on top of that they were also now using tactics, they surrounded him and kept moving so they'd be harder to hit and they took turns making rapid strikes instead of attacking one at a time, but he managed to dodge most of them and repelled the rest, so the dinos gave up on that and instead tried to swarm him, but William quickly rolled under them and was greeted by another sword wielding dino, but met it with his knife just in time.

"You should give up dino slayer, you're already outnumbered and soon the entire army will be here and theres no way you'll be able to stand against us all and its only a matter of time until we find the other dino slayer!"

"Surrender only for you to cook me and then eat me? No thank you." They then exchanged a few blows.

"Cook and then eat you? We're not going to do that."

"Then what are you going to do, imprison me?"

"Well, uh, we're going to put you somewhere…. safe where the king can decide what he wants to do with you so uh yeah essentially."

"Yeah, I'm not letting anyone decide my fate." The two continued to exchange more blows, but William decided to use his speed and agility to his advantage and the troodon was unable to hit him While William made small, quick attacks.

The troodon, realizing he was losing this fight, decided it was time to call in backup. "Don't just stand there, attack him!" By now even more dinosaurs had arrived and they all began to swarm William who tried to fight them off but he was out numbered 100 to 1. The next thing he knew he was slammed in the chest by the butt of a sword and thrown against the cliff and before he could get up they hit him in the head, knocking him out.

William woke up with a head ache and a sore chest. "Ah, what happened?" When his vision cleared up he noticed he was in a dark cell that was lit by one torch and quickly began to panic. "Where am I!?" As he got up he heard a rattling noise and noticed that shackles and bilboes were clamped tight against his wrists, ankles, and even his neck, and then he heard one of the last things he wanted to hear right now.

"William, are ya awake?"

"Buck!? They got you to!?" William could now see Buck in a cell across from his.

"Sadly yes, I tried to make a break fo' the waterfall and almost made it out but then the army arrived and I was out numbered, I managed to 'old out fo' a few minutes but they managed to knock me out." He answered bitterly.

"Buck, I am so sorry I got us into this mess."

"Don't put all the blame on yerself, Its partially my fault to, I probly should of controlled myself better when I smelt tha steak." Suddenly they heard a clunk and then a screech as a door opened.

"So where are these dino slayers you told me about?"

"Right this way your majesty." Buck and William could hear approaching footsteps and see the light emitted by a torch but neither of their chains allowed them to cover more than half of their cells length so they couldn't see who was approaching until they got to their cells. "Here they are."

"Hmmm, not quite terrifying or ferocious as I expected."

"I'll show ya ferocious!" Buck answered angrily as he tried to run to the cell door but was held back by his chains. One of the dinos chuckled at this.

"Feisty little rascal isn't he?"

"Indeed."

"Ya don't know the 'alf of it, now who are you and wot do ya want?"

"I am King Cato and, well, I'm actually not sure what I want to do with you."

"You'll probably just end up enslaving us and have us do hard manual labor."

"Who said that?"

"Behind you."

"Ah, dino slayer number two."

"We have names you know."

"And they would be?"

"Dr. William Johnson."

"You're a doctor?"

"Yes, I have a doctorate in just about everything."

"Impressive, so I guess that means you're not mindless psychopathic killers?"

"Hell no, well, as long as you don't severely harm or kill anyone I have strong feelings for, in that case I'd hunt them down and either A: Kill them instantly or B: Torture them in every nonlethal method possible until I'm board of it and then finally kill them in the slowest most painful way possible." _Or C: Destroy all life with nuclear warheads. _He added mentally. The king and even Buck were speechless, though Buck knew William would avenge those he cared for he didn't know he would use torture.

"Wow… you have issues." The king finally said.

"You can thank my heavily scarred past for that, but I will admit that last one is extremely unlikely to happen."

"You have a scarred past?"

"Yes, but its very painful for me to talk about, so ask him instead."

"Oh yes, and you would be?"

"Buck." He spat out bitterly. "And yes, 'e does 'ave a scarred past, 'e 'ad 'is parents murdered in front of 'im when 'e was a child and 'ad a very lonely child'ood."

"Wow, I-I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thanks, you know, you're a lot less hostile than anyone else we've encountered, everyone else either wanted to kill, enslave, or torture us."

"Well don't completely rule out dying as I've finally figured out what I'll do with the two of you."

"Set us free." Buck dully suggested.

"No, you, Buck, will go and fight in the coliseum while William, you will be my personal bodyguard, but, if one of you tries to escape or harm anyone you're not suppose to then the other Will be executed, so for example, if you, Buck, try to kill one of your guards, then your friend Will be executed." Buck grumbled angrily at this.

"If this is supposed to scare me to then I'd like to point out that it doesn't, I'd gladly die for him."

"William, stop, I don't want to risk your life, I'll go with these rules, but don't expect me to go so quietly."

"I'm not surprised, and, oh yes, the two of you will be kept separate at all times."

"What!? why?"

"So you're less likely to escape."

"But Buck and I are like brothers, we rarely leave each others side, and we always have each others back."

"Tha's right, no matter wot, William would come fo' me, so I'd come fo' 'im no matter wot."

"Very close the two of you are, but still, I don't want the two of you working together to escape."

"Why do you want us anyway?" William asked angrily.

"Because the two of you are practically legends and I bet a lot of people would love to see you fight in our arena and when people learn that one of you is my personal body guard no one would dare try to harm me."

"I can understand your reasoning but neither of us want this."

"Not even for rewards?"

"Like?"

"Buck, if you prove to be successful in the arena then you could earn immense fame and fortune, and William, overtime you could find yourself in a position of power, and as the two of you gain my trust you will gain freedoms and eventually be able to do all the things our citizens can do."

"Still not interested." _Besides, I'm already the richest and most powerful person on the planet._ William mentally added.

"We're no' interested in fame, fortune, or power, we like to be free to do wot we wish and live a life of adventure."

"Well I'm afraid you have no choice, guards, escort these two to their new dwellings."

"Yes sir." They responded as they began to detach their chains from the walls and immediately the two weasels tried to escape but were quickly restrained.

"Where do the two of you think you're going?" The king mocked as he watched the two weasels fight against their restraints and tried to stick together.

"Buck, I hate being alone, the voices could come back."

"Jus stay strong, I'm no' givin up without a fight."

"Stop….. Resisting." The guards struggled to get the weasels to move and it eventually took four of them to finally drag both of them out and to their new quarters.


	3. Chapter 3

Ice Age and its characters are property of Blue Sky Studios.

* * *

It had been a while since William had been separated from Buck as the two were to live in two different buildings in two different sides of town. The march to the palace was a long one with the palace being on the other side of town. By now William was worn out and had stopped trying to resist and break free as his guards marched him to the palace. On the way there everyone stopped and stared in disbelief as the storied dino slayer passed through town. William was humiliated, he felt like a criminal being paraded through a city before his execution. _Please let this end soon._ He thought shamefully as the march continued.

After a while he finally arrived at the palace where he was taken to his room. Once in the guards unshackled him and in the blink of an eye they rushed out and locked the door. Even though William was now trapped in what was for all intensive purposes his new prison he was relived to finally be out of the eyes of the public. _Finally... solitude. _He then took a good look at his new room. The room was rather nice by prehistoric standards; it had a decent sized bed, a primitive sofa, a dresser with a mirror, and in a smaller room next to the bed he found what appeared to be a primitive bath tub. This was definitely a heck of a lot nicer than Bucks tree house. _Well at least their trying to make my stay relatively pleasant, still would like to leave though._ His thought were interrupted when heard a knock at the door.

"Uh, dino slayer, the king said that you will start your duty as his bodyguard tomorrow." a voice nervously announced from outside his room.

"Whatever" William didn't care when his guard duty started, or really anything right now. If it weren't for the fact that the king would have Buck executed if he tried to escape or do something against his royal highness he'd attack him, tie him up, gag him, and then lock him in his room and make his escape and do the same to any lone guard he'd encounter. He was certain Buck would do the same or at least something similar if in this exact situation. Since there was nothing for him to do he decided to just try and sleep through the rest of the day so he got up on his bed, curled up, and went to sleep.

* * *

Buck was also arriving at his room which wasn't as nice as Williams; it was essentially another cell but with the bars replaced with a wooden door and a small bed and a small dining table put in. "I thought we weren't gonna be treated like prisoners." Buck growled spitefully. If it weren't for all these shackles he would of taken all his guards out and raced over to rescue William before they could execute him. He hated everything about this: he hated being lied to, he hated being chained up, he hated being cooped up in a small room, he hated being forced to do something against his will, and he especially hated how it was these bloody over grown lizards that got the best of him!

"Well most gladiators are criminals and are kept in cells close to the Colosseum, just be glad that we tried to make this as un cell like and comfortable as possible and that you have a bed; all the others either have a small wooden bench or they sleep on the floor and you will get fancy restaurant quality food for all three meals; the others only get two and have less desirable foods, but if you prove yourself in the arena you will win the life of luxury that all the other successful fighters live. Your first fight is in two days." The guard then took off Bucks shackles and got out the room as fast as he could and locked the door.

Buck let out an annoyed sigh_._ "I've already told them I'm no' interested in fame, fortune, or luxury."He muttered angrily. "I want my freedom!"

He then turned around and noticed that towards the top of the wall was a tiny barred window, since this cell was designed for creatures that were larger than him it was rather high up so it was going to take some effort to reach it. He leapt up and clawed at the wall trying to reach the ledge but failed. "Blast" He leapt again and tried to grab it but failed again. "Oh come on!" He yelled frustratingly at the wall. He made one more attempt and this time he made it and hauled himself up.

He noticed the window was at ground level which meant that he was in the buildings basement. Outside he could see other troodons walking about minding their own business. Still undeterred, he tried to squeeze his head between the bars and make his escape but it just wouldn't fit. "Damn" Giving up on this he leapt back down onto his bed and decided to just go to sleep. _I 'ope at least William might 'ave it better than I._ He sadly thought before falling asleep.

* * *

The next morning William was suddenly awoken by something knocking very loudly at his door. "Wake up dino slayer, the king demands your presence immediately." A voice droned dully from outside.

William let out a tired, irritable growl. "You could of awoken me in a calmer fashion and I have a name you know!"

"Yeah yeah, just report to the king right now."

William let out another growl; today was gonna suck, it was already off to a bad start and he highly doubted it would get any better. He then heard a click which signified that the door was unlocked so he lazily dragged himself out of bed and opened the door and was greeted by one of the kings security guards who quickly put his hands in front of his face in defense.

"Don't hurt me!" It screeched in terror, even though he was bigger than William and had a weapon.

"I'm not going to, just take me to the king so I can start my new career and get my life over with." William replied impatiently. He was not in the mood to do anything, but if he didn't do as told his best friend would be executed so he would have to put up with the king and do as he said. _His royal highness better treat me with some respect._ He thought bitterly as the guard led him through several empty hallways until he reached a giant throne room were the king towered above them from his elevated throne, surrounded by security guards who warily watched Williams every move. "Yes your highness." William hissed.

"Don't talk to me in that tone dino slayer, if you want me to treat you with respect then you must treat me with respect." King Cato announced in a commanding tone but this didn't faze William.

"My name is not dino slayer! Its William! Yes it is a cool title but I'd rather be addressed as either William or Dr. Johnson!" William exploded.

"SILENCE!" The king boomed and William suddenly shrunk back and calmed down. "Keep in mind that I can order the death of your companion of whom you care for so dearly and I can make your life a living hell, I'm trying to give you a chance; I could of just kept you in the dungeon but no, I gave you a comfortable room, I could feed you undesirable leftovers but instead I'm letting you dine with me and have the same things I have, and I'm willing to give you freedoms once you earn them but if you're not going to show me respect and do as I say then you can just forget about it all! Do you understand?"

William hated to admit it but the king had a point and while he still didn't like being order around and was essentially being forced to serve as the kings body guard it could be much worse, heck he'd been through much worse. The last time he encountered a group of people down here he was imprisoned for several weeks and then captured by a very hostile and warlike rival group of mammals that constantly tortured and starved him which almost killed him, this was downright friendly by comparison. William then let out a sigh in defeat as he knelt down before his new king. "Yes your majesty, I understand." He replied submissively.

"Good, I'm glad you finally see things my way. Now approach, I have something for you."

Now William was curious. What would the king possibly want to give him; unless of course it was a weapon to use against intruders. In that case he wondered if he'd be given his knife back or if the king might have a new weapon for him. When he reached the top of the stairs that lead to the throne he again knelt and waited for the king to respond while every one of the kings guards pointed their weapons at him.

"I do believe this is yours." The king then handed William back his knife.

William was delighted to have his knife back and even though he couldn't use it to escape right now he did feel safer and a bit more at ease."Thank you sir."

"By the way where did you get a tooth that big?"

"Rudy" William answered simply.

"Rudy? Who's Rudy?"

"Are you familiar with the great white beast?"

The king and even his guards gasped. "You mean that white giant with those evil glowing red eyes!?"

"Yep, that's the one." William replied matter of factly as he began to grin.

"How did you get it?"

"Well one day Buck and I were out exploring when we encountered the beast and we engaged it in battle. At first we were winning but Rudy soon got the upper hand when he flung me into some trees and then flung Buck onto the ground and managed to corner him against a large rock!"

"What happened next?" The king asked, completely drawn into the story. William was actually surprised at how good he was at story telling, it still wasn't as good as Bucks story telling but it still wasn't bad.

"Well I wasn't about to let the only friend I'd ever had get snatched up and eaten, so I came charging through the bushes and before Rudy could snatch him up I shoved him out the way but I had no time to escape and Rudy got me instead!"

"My goodness!"

"I remember thinking that this was the end as I fell down his throat but I managed to stop myself from falling into his stomach, I then crawled my way back up his throat and grabbed onto his uvula. I then began to swing back and forth to build up momentum and I flung myself to freedom, crashing into one of his teeth and knocking it out!"

"Wow, and this really did happen?"

"Yep, though admittedly after thinking about my actions I actually do sometimes feel a bit bad about taking the tooth, I mean, I caused Rudy a ton of pain when I did that, but of course you gotta do what you gotta do to survive."

"True, did your friend get his the same way?"

"Yep, he also lost his eye to Rudy."

"Wow, I uh… I suddenly feel quite a bit more… respectful for the two of you. I have heard storys about you dino slayers, although I'm not sure if any are true, but none of them are that extreme, or at least most of them aren't." King Cato said a bit nervously.

William grinned triumphantly as he stuck his knife in the floor and leaned on it nonchalantly. "Yep, there are very few things we can't handle... except an army of course... or a group of highly skilled bounty hunters... or..."

"Okay okay I get it, but that still doesn't change anything, but now that I know about this I will admit I'm now even more anxious to see how well your friend performs in the arena tomorrow."

"What!? He's fighting in the arena!? I mean not that I don't have confidence in him but if something goes wrong and he is somehow defeated won't his opponent finish him off and kill him?"

"It is a very real possibility."

"Well then you listen here, if he gets killed there will be nothing to keep me from being disobedient and escaping and I will go berserk and anyone who played a part in his death, imprisonment, and even capture **will** die." William told the king in a dark, threatening tone, even ignoring the guards whos spears and swords pointed just inches away from the enraged weasel.

By now the king felt that William was again stepping too far out of line and decided to bring back order. "That's quite enough out of you for today, your stepping out of line and if you know whats good for you and your friend you'd shut it." The king threatened, causing William to shrink back again.

"Yes sir, sorry sir."

"Good" The king then signaled for the guards to leave. "Now follow me, breakfast awaits, but don't try any tricks or…"

"I know I know, you'll have Buck executed."

Cato suddenly swung around and gave a look that said: "You'd better shut up right now if you know whats good for ya."

"Sorry"

The king slowly turned back around, still giving him a dirty look, and continued on to the dinning room with William following right behind.


End file.
